Wilhelm und Else Heraeus Seminar #702: Otto Stern's Molecular Beam Research and its Impact on Science
Frankfurt
In 1919, at Frankfurt, Otto Stern (1888-1969) implemented the molecular beam -- or molecular ray -- technique, which he characterized as follows: "the most distinctive characteristic property of the molecular ray method is its simplicity and directness. It enables us to make measurements on isolated neutral atoms or molecules with macroscopic tools. For this reason it is especially valuable for testing and demonstrating directly fundamental assumptions of the theory." Of special significance was the Stern-Gerlach experiment, carried out at Frankfurt in 1920-1922, which introduced the key concept of sorting quantum states via space quantization of angular momentum. Among its descendants are the prototypes for nuclear magnetic resonance, optical pumping, the laser, and atomic clocks, as well as incisive discoveries such as the Lamb shift and the anomalous increment in the magnetic moment of the electron, which launched quantum electrodynamics. In the 1960s, the molecular beam technique made inroads into chemistry as well, by fulfilling the pipe dream of disentangling from gaseous chaos elementary chemical reactions as single binary collisions of chemically well-defined reagents. Chemical reaction dynamics that ensued has remained one of the chief preoccupations of chemical/molecular physics to date. In the 1990s, a renaissance had begun in atomic physics, nurtured by the development of techniques to cool and trap atoms. Based on a combination of molecular beams with laser cooling, these techniques enabled the realization of quantum degeneracy in atomic gases, launched condensed-matter physics with tunable interactions, as well as transformed metronomy.
The Otto Stern symposium will survey both the historical aspects as well as the state of the art of what emerged from Otto Stern’s molecular beam laboratory at Frankfurt. The Physics Department at Frankfurt has been recently recognised by the European Physical Society (EPS) as an “EPS Historic Site,” which will be inaugurated during the symposium.
The symposium is funded by grants from the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation https://www.we-heraeus-stiftung.de/english/, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft https://www.dfg.de/, and Frontiers Media https://www.frontiersin.org/.
Bretislav Friedrich &
Horst Schmidt-Böcking
Achim Czasch
Ana Maria Rey
Andreas Bauch
Arnab Khan
Arne Schirrmacher
Axel Gruppe
Bretislav FRIEDRICH
Burkhard Fricke
Christian Janke
Christiane Koch
Claus Peter Schulz
Daniel Trabert
Dietmar Birke
Dimitrios Tsitsonis
Dorothée Weber-Bruls
Dudley Herschbach
Eva Lindroth
Florian Trinter
Gerard Meijer
Gernot Gruber
Giammarco Nalin
Gilbert Nathanson
Gregor Kastirke
Günter Werth
Hendrik Ulbricht
Henrik Stapelfeldt
Horst Schmidt-Böcking
Isabel Vela Pérez
Jan Kruse
Joachim Ullrich
John Stuart Briggs
Josef Georg HUBER
Jürgen Troe
Karin Reich
Karl-Ontjes Groeneveld
Klaas Bergmann
Klaus Blaum
Kurt Ernst Stiebing
Kurt Scharnberg
Lisa Schmoeger
Lothar Schmidt
Ludger Wöste
Maksim Kunitski
Mallikarjun Karra
Marjansadat Mirahmadi
Markus Arndt
Markus Schöffler
Marlan Scully
Martin Breimann
Martin Pitzer
Max Hofmann
Max Kircher
Maxim Efremov
Michael Deveaux
Michael Devereux
Michael Eckert
Michael Tarbutt
Miriam Weller
Mirjam Schulz
Oleg Kornilov
Olga Smirnova
Otmar Schöller
Ottmar Jagutzki
Paul Corkum
Peter E. Toschek
Philipp Rieser
Raghu Tomar
Rainer Blatt
Reinhard Mahnke
Reinhold Schuch
richard lenkiewicz
Roland Langfeld
Sabina Krasilovskaja
Samuel Schumacher
Sebastian Eckart
Siegbert Hagmann
Stefan Schippers
Stephan Fritzsche
Sven Grundmann
Thomas Pfeifer
Thomas Stöhlker
Till Jahnke
Tilman Sauer
Trageser Wolfgang
Udo Strohbusch
Vasily Tulsky
Volker Dangendorf
Wieland Schöllkopf
Wolfgang und Harriet Demtröder
Wolfgang Gruenbein
Wolfgang Schleich
Yaakov Fein